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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

A Dream Primary Classroom

I discovered a neat free website that allows to plan room
set-ups: Room Sketcher. This
website was shared by Zoe Branigan-Pipe, who was my Junior ABQ instructor last
summer at Brock University. RoomSketcher is a house set-up software, and therefore
there is no dedicated school furniture, but I was able to make a neat class
set-up nonetheless. This software is extremely user-friendly. There are several
interesting features, such as the wide array of possible furniture and
accessories. Also, it allows the user to take snapshot 3D pictures of the room
in order to have a better idea of how it looks like in real life. All in all, I
enjoyed using Room Sketcher to design my dream primary classroom. I have made
my classroom set-up public on the site, and it can be accessed here.

My dream primary classroom is spacious (14m x 9m). There are
a couple of windows on the top wall in order to get some much needed natural
light. The door is at the bottom left corner. In Ontario, primary classrooms
have about 20 students, and I designed the working space for this number of
pupils. The picture below shows the top view of the entire classroom floor plan.

The children leave their outdoor shoes, coats and backpacks in
the corridor outside classroom, against the bottom wall, as shown below. There
are cubies for the shoes, and hooks for coats and backpacks. Each child has
their own space labelled with their name.

The classroom meeting area is defined by the carpet against the
top wall.

The meeting space is large and well-defined thanks to the spacious carpet.
There are no shelves containing school material (potential distraction
sources!) near the carpet in order to keep the students focused on the class
discussions. There is a Smart Board in front of the carpet, and the teacher’s computer
is near the teacher’s chair. There is also a chart stand (easel in the drawing)
for recording ideas. The walls on each side of the Smart Board would be used
for various types of displays that are used and referred-to frequently (daily
schedule, word walls, charts, calendar, etc.) (A Guide to Effective Instruction in
Mathematics, p. 11-12).

The students’ work tables are placed in the center of the
classroom, in five groups of four desks (or five large tables as shown here).

This desk configuration allows for small group work, where
students interact with and help each other, as well as provide feedback to the
members of their group (A Guide to Effective Instruction in Mathematics, p. 12-13). There
is ample space for students to move freely and safely between each table and
around the room. Also, the teacher can easily move around the tables to monitor
and help the students as they work. Students have easy access to the class
material and laptops (one for each student, in my dream world!) situated on and
in the low shelves against the back wall, as well as on the bookshelves near
the teacher’s desk. The low shelves also contain students’ individual bins for
unfinished work, for easy access. Students put completed work in another bin,
in the shelves next to the teacher’s desk. This set-up allows students to be
more independent when working on tasks, with all the necessary material labelled
and within easy reach. On the wall above the low shelves, near the students’
work tables, there are bulletin boards, as well as word walls, visual displays,
and students’ artworks.

The conference table below (which can be seen in the previous image also)
is an excellent space for guided reading and general guided work. The teacher
faces the rest of the room, which allows to keep an eye on most of the students
at once, which is important for class management.

The teacher desk is nearby in the corner, also facing the
room. There are many shelves to store class material and books. There is a
color printer, and it is on the file cabinet next to the teacher’s desk.

For students who wish to work independently, there are four
individual desks dispersed in the room, including these shown below. These are
great for quiet, individual work, and the desks are set in quiet corners of the
room, away from the main group work areas.

This classroom has been designed so that it also contains
well-defined spaces for centers.

This center accommodates students’ Logical-Mathematical,
Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal intelligences. The math
manipulatives are conveniently stored within reach in the low shelves against
the wall, for easy independent access. The wall space contains math displays
such as word and strategy walls. The following materials would be stored and
displayed in the math center (http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/implementation_sub1.html(“Tapping into Multiple Intelligences”, 1996)):

Puzzles
and games that involve logical thinking (looking for patterns, sequences,
process of elimination, inference, etc.)

Arithmetic
and graphing calculators with instructions on how to solve common types of
problems (e.g. percentages, averages, etc.)

Maps,
charts, timelines, Web sites -- vivid examples of how math and logical
thinking can relate to social studies, science and language arts

Cassette
or CD player with headphones (optional: jack so that two students can
listen to same music at the same time)

instruments
from a variety of multicultural backgrounds

Books
about famous composers and musicians

Books
of poems and stories that students can set to music

Books
of collected lyrics

Computer
with microphone, speakers, and earphones plus MIDI connector and keyboard:
music composition software, CD-ROMs designed for music study, CDs for
incorporating sound into multimedia presentations

This center encourages the Logical-Mathematical, Naturalist,
Interpersonal and Visual-Spatial intelligences. It is quite simply situated at one
of the student work tables in the center of room. The following center materials
are stored within reach in labelled bins on the low shelves against the wall (http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/implementation_sub1.html(“Tapping into Multiple Intelligences”, 1996)):

This center caters to the Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic,
Interpersonal and Logical-Mathematical intelligences. It is strategically
positioned near the sink, and the center materials are stored in labelled bins
in the wall shelves and under the sink. Some of the materials should not be
accessed independently by the students (e.g. glue gun) and are therefore stored
out of reach. I prefer to use stools in this center, which are easier to move
by the students according to their needs, and which can be stored under the
table when not in use. This center contains the following materials (http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/mi/implementation_sub1.html(“Tapping into Multiple Intelligences”, 1996)):

Wood, metal, Styrofoam, recycled
containers, bottles, cardboard, and tools to work with them

Various types and colors of paper and
cardboard (for creating a homemade board game, etc.)

Variety of writing implements (markers,
crayons)

Variety of fabric scraps

Modeling clay

Large rolls of mural paper for scenery
backdrops for performances

Overall, my dream classroom is inviting, spacious, bright, and
organized; it contains lots of storage and green plants that the students care
for (“Creating an Effective Physical
Classroom Environment”https://www.teachervision.com/classroom-management/decorative-arts/6506.html).
The walls display essential visually attractive learning material, but are not
crowded with information. I prefer to leave ample space to display the students’
work, so that they take ownership of their learning space. The various centers
and work areas are well-defined with carpets and/or specific tables, and
students can independently find and access most of the materials they need. In
this classroom, students and I are comfortable and enjoy learning together!

Please share the link to your own primary classroom set-up in the comments section!